Rocker Billy Bragg is celebrating after successfully campaigning to overturn a ban on steel-strung guitars in U.K. prisons. Bragg joined forces with fellow rockers Johnny Marr, Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway, and Guy Garvey from Elbow earlier this year (14) as part of an initiative to urge officials to rethink the ruling, which was passed last November (13) as part of the government's changes to the judicial system, which also included new restrictions on books for prisoners.
In an open letter published in April (14), Bragg's all-star group argued that music had "an important role to play in engaging prisoners in the process of rehabilitation", adding, "This ability will be seriously undermined if inmates are unable to practise between group sessions."
Government officials have since agreed to reverse the ban and allow steel-strung guitars back in detention centres and Bragg, who founded the Jail Guitar Doors rehabilitation initiative to provide instruments for inmates, is glad authorities have seen sense.
He says, "As an incentive to engage in rehabilitation, individual access to steel strung guitars can really help the atmosphere on a prison wing. I've had a number of projects involving guitars on hold which now will be able to go ahead, and will allow those using music in prisons to get on with this important work."

Actor Dave Franco's online dating skills were put to the test during a recent skit he taped for pal Conan O'brien's U.S. chat show. The two friends decided to tackle dating site Tinder under the pseudonyms Chip Whitley and Djengus Roundstone, and while O'Brien was matched with a 74-year-old woman, the Now You See Me star quickly found himself the object of desire for a handful of local women, despite his awful profile.
He wrote, "I enjoy wearing (sandals) Crocs for their style over their comfort and I hear I look like a poor man's Dave Franco. F**k Dave Franco!"
The pair then took off in a tricked-out love wagon van to meet one of the girls who had shown interest in the actor.

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Is a Full House reunion in the works? It certainly came together for an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out the throwback reunion that had everyone talking, plus lots of puppies! Remember to come back to Hollywood.com every week to catch up on all the late night talk show highlights.
Three Men and a Jimmy FallonWe've all been there – waking up to a cold sweat, panicking about hosting The Tonight Show. Thank the heavens there's always Daddy, Uncle Jesse, and Uncle Joey to help put us back to sleep! While it's great to see Bob Saget, John Stamos, and Dave Coulier back together again, we don't miss the mullets and the ugly sweaters.
Dude DuetPolitical comedian Bill Maher and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane do their best Rat Pack impression by singing a farewell to Jay Leno.
"Katy Perry Finger-banged my Cleavage"Now that's an image that guys will certainly want etched in their minds! In her interview with Conan O'Brien, Anna Kendrick told the world just how intimate she and Katy Perry became on Grammy night.
Don't SpeakThe week's most painful interview to watch goes to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who just couldn't keep up with Jon Stewart's questions about the healthcare.gov website.
Missed ConnectionsEvery guy's feeling a missed connection with Alison Brie's sultry reading of people's desperate pleas of romance from Craigslist.
The Boy Who Never AgedIt looks like Peter Pan spent too much time away from Neverland! Bill Murray made another impressive entrance on Late Show with David Letterman when he literally swooped in for his interview.
Prepping for the Puppy BowlFamed football coach Joe Gibbs trains Stephen Colbert for the biggest and cuddliest game of his life.
Puppy ConanDue to popular demand, Conan O'Brien brought back the canine version of his show, "Puppy Conan."
Puppy PredictorsThis is the last clip featuring puppies, we swear! Jimmy Fallon unleashed the hounds to see who's their pick to win Sunday night's big game. And the winner will be ...
Peer AdviceWhere's the proof that Justin Bieber is sinking faster than mercury during a polar vortex? Miley Cyrus is giving him advince on how to keep things on the DL on The Tonight Show.
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WENN.comIt now seems difficult to imagine anyone other than Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in the lead roles of The Hunger Games. But due to the phenomenal success of the novels, the majority of the cast faced super-tough competition to land a part in the film. Here's a look at five characters who in an alternate universe would have been played by somebody completely different.Katniss EverdeenAround 50 actors reportedly auditioned for the series' hero, the most high-profile of which were Abigail Breslin, Chloe Grace Moretz, Hailee Steinfeld and Emily Browning. The last of these shares something in common with J-Law: both actresses had previously missed out on the role of Bella in Twilight.Peeta MellarkAmerican Horror Story's Evan Peters, X-Men: First Class' Lucas Till and Magic Mike's Alex Pettyfer were all in contention for the male lead, as were Liam Hemsworth and Alexander Ludwig, both of whom of course went onto play Gale and Cato respectively.Gale HawthorneHad Miley Cyrus' ex been cast as Peeta instead, then Arrow star Robbie Amell, Disney Channel graduate David Henrie and former Hannah Montana regular Drew Roy would all have been poised to take his place.Haymitch AbernathyAccording to various sources, John C. Reilly was in the frame to play the middle-aged victor of the 50th Hunger Games until Woody Harrelson was selected ahead of his fellow Oscar nominee at the last minute.Finnick OdairDespite publicly professing his love for the series, Glee actor Grant Gustin missed out on the role of District 4 tribute Finnick Odair, who will first be seen onscreen in Catching Fire, to Pirates Of The Caribbean star Sam Claflin.
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Michael Buckner/Getty ImagesWhile most people scoffed when The Canyons director Paul Schrader compared its troubled star Lindsay Lohan to silver screen goddess Marilyn Monroe, they do have at least one thing in common – they've both been immortalised in song by Sir Elton John. Indeed, exactly 30 years after he penned "Candle In The Wind" as a tribute to the original Blonde Bombshell, the Rocket Man revealed this week that the closing title track from his new 31st studio album, The Diving Board, was based on watching the Mean Girls star's descent from talented actress to car-crash TMZ regular. Here's a look at five other songs that have been inspired by celebrities.
Alanis Morissette – "You Oughta Know"A tour-de-force of angst-ridden alt-rock, "You Oughta Know" transformed the Canadian from a Tiffany-esque teen pop mall queen to the world's biggest banshee. But few would have expected the subject of her fury to have been such an unassuming figure as Uncle Joey from Full House. Despite his initial denials, Dave Coulier finally admitted in 2008 that he was in fact the man who stamped on Morissette's heart after they dated in the early '90s.
Madonna – "Miles Away"Best-known for possibly the most tacky album cover of all time and a bandwagon jumping collaboration with Timbaland &amp; Timberlake, Madonna's much-maligned 2008 release, Hard Candy, wasn’t always so contrived. Indeed, this gorgeously melancholic electro-ballad was possibly one of the most honest and autobiographical songs of the Material Girl's career as she poured her heart out over the hardships of maintaining a long-distance relationship with now ex-husband Guy Ritchie.
Carly Simon – "You’re So Vain"Long before Taylor Swift turned the concept of 'blind gossip' into an art form, singer-songwriter Carly Simon got all the tabloids talking when she assassinated a former boyfriend's character on "You’re So Vain." Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty and James Taylor's names have all been thrown into the ring as possible suspects. But only Simon and the man who paid $50,000 to discover the answer back in 2003 appears to really know who the guilty party is.
R.E.M. - "Man On The Moon"Seven years before they wrote "The Great Beyond" for the Jim Carrey-starring biopic of the same name, R.E.M. paid tribute to the late cult comedian Andy Kaufmann with this enduring hit from Automatic For The People. Referencing everything from the Taxi star's flawless Elvis impersonation to his work with wrestlers Fred Blassie and Jerry Lawler, the track was named so due to the moon-landing style conspiracy theories surrounding his 1984 death.
Annie – "Me Plus One"Taken from her 2004 debut, Anniemal, "Me Plus One" saw Norwegian starlet Annie narrate the real-life moment when Geri Halliwell locked herself in a car with producer Richard X after discovering that he'd given the song she desperately wanted to record to former S Club 7 member Rachel Stevens instead. Also sampling the barks of the former Spice Girl's dog Harry, this insanely catchy slice of electropop undoubtedly ranks as one of the more bizarre celebrity odes.
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While most pop stars claim to worship their fans just as much as their fans worship them, there are the odd moments when their apparent strong bond with their adoring public are severely tested. Indeed, only last week, Calvin Harris was filmed calling a crowd member a "daft f***ing b**ch" when she shouted out, perhaps quite fairly judging by his recent generic output, that he was a sellout during a Miami gig. Here's a look at five other globe-conquering stars who have at some point clashed with their own audiences.
Beyoncé gets her butt slapped
Appearing to believe that Beyoncé's commands of "to the left, to the left" during a rendition of "Irreplaceable" were an invitation to slap her bodysuit-clad butt, one touchy-feely fan felt the wrath of Mrs Carter at a Denmark gig earlier this year when she warned him that she'd have him escorted off the premises if he did it again.
Dave Grohl kicks guy out of gig
Maintaining his status as the nicest man in rock, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl came to the rescue of a London concertgoer in 2011 when he interrupted a song to throw out a certain stripe-shirted brawler who took the art of moshing just one step too far.
Rihanna hits fan in face with microphone
Proving she's not a woman to be messed with, Rihanna used her microphone as a makeshift weapon during the Birmingham leg of her Diamonds world tour in June after being grabbed by an over-eager fan. Staying true to the title of her last album, Unapologetic, she later took to Instagram to boast that she did it on purpose.
Amy Winehouse elbows festivalgoer
Living up to her erratic reputation, Amy Winehouse started her 2008 Glastonbury set by arguing that the dictionary should create a new word to express how happy she was to be performing before going onto elbow a festivalgoer in the front row several times, all the while slurring about how she didn't need to go "Rehab."
Tim McGraw turns security guard
Singer-songwriter, actor, charity fundraiser – country star Tim McGraw added 'security guard' to his list of many talents during a 2008 show in Washington when he personally hauled a rather large gentleman onto the stage after witnessing him attack a female audience member.
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We stay up to watch shows like The Tonight Show and Late Night With David Letterman and Conan to see interviews with celebrities and funny sketches. Things don't always go as planned even for the people who meticulously plan and run these shows, often to the chagrin of the hosts and sometimes the guests themselves. The audiences tend to love it. though.
1. Drew Barrymore Striptease on David Letterman (1995)
Who can forget Dave squirming when Barrymore flashed him? I'm sure that the censors watching the show nearly had a heart attack when deciding whether to air this or not.
2. Madonna on Letterman (2008)
Admit it, you didn't look at cigars the same way after her appearance with Letterman. Say what you will, but she is the queen of being able to get people to talk about her.
3. Hugh Grant on Jay Leno (1995)
Usually when people appear on these shows, they expect easy questions. Grant was likely not expecting "What the hell were you thinking?" alluding to his being caught with a prostitute in his car while he was dating Elizabeth Freaking Hurley at the same time.
4. Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman (2009)
Who knew what the hell was going on when the bearded Phoenix conducted one of the most out there interviews ever. It turned out that it was an Andy Kaufman-esque type thing for Phoenix, who was getting ready for a movie role. He came out looking decidedly more normal in another appearance to explain, but I'm sure Letterman's show booker was asking beforehand, "You SURE you're not going to pull something like this again?"
5. Power Goes Out on Craig Ferguson (2009)
Who needs power to run a show? Ferguson just kicked back in the surrounding darkness and cracked jokes with a robotic co-host. Every show should be so laid-back.
6. Letterman Audience-Free Shows During Sandy (2012)
In the same vein as Ferguson, this time Letterman didn't even have an audience during the superstorm. He stood there in an empty studio, save for his sidekick, Paul Shaffer, and the accompying band and did his monologue and regular show. Who says the audience adds anything?
7. Matt Damon Ties Up Jimmy Kimmel (2013)
Late-night TV or the WWE? Damon, in a mock feud with Kimmel, finally snapped, tied up Kimmel and hosted the show himself. Vince McMahon would be proud of that storyline.
8. Jimmy Kimmel Rips Leno Post-Conan O'Brien Firing (2010)
Kimmel was NOT happy when Conan was removed as host of The Tonight Show and he subequently mocked Leno, including doing a show dressed up as him and continued on the offensive until the red-headed comedian locked into his own show on TBS. I was happy to see this, since even the Leno/Letterman rivalry had gotten stale.
9. Sinead O'Connor Tears Pope John Paul II's Picture on SNL (1992)
The Irish singer sure tore herself out of the spotlight after that stunt to protest the Catholic church's view on abortion/contraception: she was also unhappy to be on the same show that the misogynistic Andrew Dice Clay was hosting. It was quite a fall: she had been on top of the world with her hit single, "Nothing Compares 2 U" and after that she faded away until making guest appearances on albums with groups like Massive Attack in the 2000s.
10. Lindsay Lohan on Letterman (2013)
Like Grant, Lohan was surprised by pointed questions about her personal life, which continues to be a train wreck of drugs, alcohol and smoking enough cigarettes to age her 20 years. Letterman can be a good interviewer: he wouldn't last as long as he has without that skill, but he can get testy with people that annoy him. Guess Lohan fit into that category.
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Renowned for her unusually strong bond with her fan base, Lady Gaga now appears to be entrusting the campaign for her upcoming third album, ARTPOP, into the hands of her Little Monsters. Indeed, after making headlines with her typically outlandish headline slot at the iTunes Festival at London's Roundhouse, the pop diva announced on Twitter that she wants her adoring public to choose the follow-up single to "Applause." Here's a look at the four options she presented and which one she should hope her followers select.
"Aura"
Previously titled "Burqa" (hence the outfit), "Aura" begins with an intriguing blend of Ennio Morricone-esque guitars and military beats before a cackle of ha-ha's make way for a disappointingly generic slab of bombastic dubstep-tinged pop.
"Swine"
Lurching from smoky piano ballad to wailing classic rock to shimmering synth-pop and finally to turbo-charged EDM within the space of just four dizzying minutes, "Swine" is simply way too schizophrenic to be anything other than a bonkers album track.
"Sex Dreams"
The only track, on first listen anyway, which sounds like it can compete with the highs of The Fame Monster and Born This Way. A sultry sensual affair which leaves little to the imagination, "Sex Dreams" sees Gaga join the current '80s R&amp;B renaissance in style.
"Manicure"
An addictive mix of growling rock guitars, spooky synths and stadium handclaps, the refreshingly straight-forward "Manicure" proves once again that Gaga is far more likely to hit the back of the net when she’s not trying so hard.
Verdict: Gaga's already since tried to tempt fans to vote for "Aura" with its promise of a follow-up video to "Telephone." But although a radio edit may be needed, "Sex Dreams" currently seems like the most obvious hit.
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Well, that was fast. Just hours after NBC officially announced that Jimmy Fallon would replace Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, the famously sharp-tongued David Letterman pounced on the news with ferocity.
Letterman first made mention of the NBC squabble in his opening monologue on Wednesday, saying "I got a call from my mom today, she says, 'Well, David, I see you didn’t get The Tonight Show again,'" But this was only the tip of the iceberg of what we can label “The Late Show Lashout."
RELATED: NBC To Replace Jay Leno With Jimmy Fallon In Spring 2014
The CBS host added to his Late Show audience, "It seems like we just went through this. Didn't we just go through this? Jay Leno now is being replaced, and this is the second time this has happened. I mean, it's crazy. He's being replaced by a younger late night talk show host – what could possibly go wrong? Honestly. They had pretty good luck with this in the past," alluding to 2010's now-infamous late night debacle, during which NBC dumped Leno for Conan O'Brien — only reinstate Leno to the air after an eight month break-up.
"NBC, God bless 'em, announced the official date for Jay Leno's departure – no mention of his official date of return, however," Letterman quipped.
But the insults didn't stop there — Letterman also rattled off a Leno-themed Top 10 and plunged into a long-winded gripe from his desk. Read on for all for his ribs below:
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"Now earlier today, NBC announced that Jimmy Fallon will take over for Jay Leno as host of the 'Tonight Show' in February of 2014. This is – something's wrong here. This happened once before with Conan O'Brien, and then they had to bring Jay back, and so he had to start his show all over again, and now it looks like the same thing is happening. And I just – I don’t get this. He’s retiring, so it says, and good for him. I've known him 38 years. I’ve known Jay Leno for 38 years, thank you. I don’t know what aspect of that you're applauding, but thank you…So now he's out again, but going out on top. So congratulations to Jay, a job well done. And, I mean, how many times can a guy be pushed out of the job, I mean. And what's the matter with NBC? What’s the matter with these guys? You know, honestly, what are they thinking…?"
"…And, as with everything in life, all I really care about is how will this affect me? That's all I really care about. And, Paul, is there any way NBC can push me out of this job? Can they do that? I don’t know…So, here’s what it’s going to be, Paul. It's going to be you and me and two guys named Jimmy. Right there, that's not right. No, no, right now, we have a Jay, we have a Jimmy, we have a Dave. Oh, forget that. In February, kiss that goodbye – Jimmy, Jimmy, Dave…But good luck to Jay. I know he'll be out on the road, getting it done and taking care of business and congratulations on a nice long run there at the 'Tonight Show,' if in fact you're not coming back."
Letterman's hostility towards Leno stems from the 1992 late night controversy, during which NBC passed over the host, handing the Tonight Show to Leno following Johnny Carson's retirement. The decision led Letterman to leave the network for CBS. Just like Leno, seems Letterman's grudge has a hard time quitting.
What do you think of Letterman's insult-infused monologues? Do you think The Late Show host went too far? Sound off in the comments below!
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